Kennan Institute

06/05/2026

🔴 Jon Finer is a member of the Kennan Institute Advisory Council

From 2021 to 2025, Finer served as Principal Deputy National Security Advisor. He has also served as Chief of Staff and Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State, worked in the private sector, and reported as a national and foreign correspondent for The Washington Post.

The Kennan Institute is proud to benefit from the experience and perspective of leaders whose careers span diplomacy, national security, journalism, and public service.

06/03/2026

⚫ Is Telegram a threat to the Kremlin or a tool it cannot afford to lose?

For years, Russian authorities have sought greater control over the country's digital space. Yet Telegram remains deeply embedded in Russia's information ecosystem, relied upon by government officials, military networks, pro-war commentators, independent voices, and millions of everyday users.

In this article, Maxim Trudolyubov examines the tensions between state control and technological reality, exploring what the debate over Telegram reveals about power, governance, and information in contemporary Russia.

Read the article at the link in our bio.

06/02/2026

🔴 New from Kennan Institute Director Michael Kimmage in The New York Times

In his latest guest essay, “Putin Has No Good Way Out of His War,” Kimmage explores how Russia’s war in Ukraine has become deeply embedded within the political system Putin has built over the last quarter century.

While Russia has thus far avoided economic collapse and continues to project stability, Kimmage argues that the costs of a prolonged war continue to accumulate, leaving increasingly difficult choices for both the Kremlin and Russian society.

Read the essay:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/opinion/putin-russia-war-strength.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Perpetuating a war is not the same as winning one.

06/02/2026

🔴 “For the first time, the war is really hitting home.”

Catherine Belton reflects on how the is increasingly affecting daily life inside .

From economic pressures and labor shortages to Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russian territory and growing restrictions on public life, the effects of the conflict are becoming harder for ordinary Russians to ignore.

🎧 Listen to the full Origins of the War conversation with Catherine Belton and Shaun Walker on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0yiAOxPBg7LX1bfJOJZ97E?si=8ae09fb141fb4b58

05/29/2026

🔴 Oksana Antonenko serves as a Global Fellow at the Kennan Institute.

Her work focuses on geopolitical risk, European security, Russia-NATO relations, arms control, and conflicts across Eurasia.

Antonenko has held senior positions at Control Risks, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

05/28/2026

⬤ What happens when memes become a survival language?

In this new Russia File article, Alexandra Arkhipova explores how Russians are using humor, reels, and online satire to navigate censorship, surveillance, and growing state pressure.

From jokes about government monitoring apps to viral skits mocking restrictions and bans, the article examines how digital humor creates a shared understanding that “something is not normal.

Read the full article:
https://www.kennaninstitute.org/articles/weapons-of-the-weak-what-todays-russian-humor-reveal

05/27/2026

⚪ “On January 22, the British Foreign Office warned that Russia planned to invade Ukraine and install a puppet government.”

Shaun Walker reflects on the intelligence warnings before February 2022 and why many assumptions about Ukraine proved detached from realities on the ground.

Watch Now: https://youtu.be/zbuh_b9Anic?si=8tWFtkKhx3Ylq3pR

05/20/2026

🔴 What happens when archives become inaccessible?

Susan Grunewald examines how historians are increasingly relying on big data and digital methodologies to study Russia and the Soviet past.

Read more ⬇️
https://www.kennaninstitute.org/articles/big-data-digital-research-methods-and-circumnavigating-archival-challenges

05/19/2026

⚪ What does historical thinking offer policymakers?

Alexander Bick explores how history expands strategic thinking beyond linear projections, offering deeper perspective on conflict, contingency, and the evolving global order.

Listen on Spotify ⬇️
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0VEXaJ2rZovK0zNiqCC627?si=7dbec51f3e8d483d

05/15/2026

⚫ The Russia File

What can Washington’s contemporary theater scene reveal about politics, authoritarianism, and artistic resistance?

Blair Ruble reflects on the parallels between today’s American stage and the “non-political-yet-political” theater that challenged repression in the late Soviet Union.

Read more ⬇️
https://www.kennaninstitute.org/articles/non-political-yet-political-theater-comes-to-washington